Zuzu wrote about this a few days ago, but I’ll add this article from the NYTimes abo [...]

I’ve never been able to figure that out.

The godbags’ usually justify their fixation on contraception and every thing sexual with reference to “The Sin of Onan” Or, rather, their willful misreading of the story of Onan. Onan was struck down because he willfully refused to fulfill his duty to impregnate his brother’s widow. He just happened to do so by spilling his seed on the ground. Unless one happens to be refusing the direct order of Judah, the spilling of seed just makes one “unclean” until evening.
Their reliance on the Old Testament is puzzling, because if you ask them why they don’t keep Kosher, they say that Yeshua changed all that. Which seems to be another willful misreading. He may have said, “The way is through me”, but he never said, Don’t keep Kosher anymore. And if we are to follow his example (like they keep telling us to), Yeshua was a good law following Jewish boy until the day he died: His last meal was a Seder!
And, while the godbags may rant about how you can’t pick and choose, they insist that their *interpretation* of the *story* of Onan is correct and applicable, but have no problem violating a *direct prohibition* against wearing clothing made of blended fibres.
I don’t begrudge them their worldview (no matter how messed-up or inconsistent)–as long as they keep it to themselves. But when they try to make everyone–regardless of belief–follow their rules, (even when their arbitrary rules conflict with Natural Law or other well reasoned systems of ethics), or tell me that I’m not truly loving, it really irritates me. (Especially when it turns out that the godbags that claim to be closest to god, and know best how I should live my life, and seem to be the most fixated on sexsexsexsex–Pentecostals–have the highest rate of divorce of all major denominations.)

Also, it’s just before finals, I have approximately twenty pages to write this weekend, and I’ve had a headache for the past two days straight. You happened to grate on my last nerve and received a backlash that you didn’t fully deserve, and for that I apologize.

No problemo. Sometimes it happens to me too. I had a discussion with a Catholic traditionalist who tried to tell me that the Old Mass was completely done in Latin. I had to explain that Kyrie Eleison was Greek. ;)

Take care of yourself.

Because I don’t like it when people try to use Latin or Greek to make a condescending point and then get it wrong to boot. The ancients had extremely screwed up morals and personal lives. Their main form of birth control was exposing infants on hillsides. Not a lot of storge in that, I’m afraid. You hit on a bunch of pet peeves at once.

Also, it’s just before finals, I have approximately twenty pages to write this weekend, and I’ve had a headache for the past two days straight. You happened to grate on my last nerve and received a backlash that you didn’t fully deserve, and for that I apologize.

It’s funny, too, how Catholics will warn me that, not only is my soul in danger from being on the pill, but, since will I’m over 45 and on the pill I’ll drop dead, like, in the next fifteen minutes from a stroke or heart attack, when the actual, documented truth is that, given my health history and my lifestyle, the likelihood of that happening is slim to never, while the likelihood of a sedantary woman who is 30 lbs. or more overweight and eats lots of processed, trans-fatty food suffering from life-threatening disease is incredibly higher than mine. Where’s the outrage over that, especially since sloth and gluttony are two of the seven deadly sins? Why is it always sexsexsexsex with these people? I guess it’s no wonder that they can only define love by sexual intercourse. It’s all they ever think about, and mostly they’re thinkin’ about other people’s sex. Like Catholics are all frozen in the sixth grade, or someting. Weird.

For example, you might not get to be a tiresome martyr.

Funny. There is another very religious blogger out there who has around 7 kids, and just had another at almost 50 years old. She wrote a post after her last kid was born talking about how she believes pregnancy is a way for a woman to be saved, because it puts enough wear and tear on her body that she’s humble enough for heaven (or something). She was proud of how exhausted she is, how much weight she gained after having kids back-to-back, etc. She believes people who use contraception are missing out on such a a humbling opportunity.

Talk about a martyr complex.

I’m going to tell you, though, that you are going to miss out on benefits. You won’t get those benefits by all of a sudden not using birth control, but by embracing God’s design for your life.

For example, you might not get to be a tiresome martyr.

I used to like religion, for the most part. I really did. I thought that for all its faults it did some people a lot of good. But goddamn if shit like this doesn’t cancel it all out.

Or, for converts who spent the first dozen or so years of their marriage on the pill or using condoms, had one or two kids, became Catholic, and then all of a sudden “needed” a hysterectomy, therefore rendering them infertile, and who then STILL go on to say how my marriage is garbage because I don’t use NFP,

Or recent converts who just 10 years ago were sleeping with everything that moved, be it unprotected or protected but definitley not married, who today remain single and childless but now call single women who enjoy sex “sluts” and purport to know exactly what makes perfect marital sex because of their “epiphany.”. (Regular readers know exactly who I am referencing).

I find it baffling when people who aren’t married and do not have children presume to tell me that my marriage is not “loving” because we don’t use a specific system of contraception called NFP.

Uh-huh. Or supposedly good Catholics who have managed to find “grave” reasons to only have two children, and then go on to tell me, who has four, that I’m not as open to life as they are.

Or, for converts who spent the first dozen or so years of their marriage on the pill or using condoms, had one or two kids, became Catholic, and then all of a sudden “needed” a hysterectomy, therefore rendering them infertile, and who then STILL go on to say how my marriage is garbage because I don’t use NFP, even though they never did either – and even though I wasn’t using any birth control at all while they were on the pill during their most fertile years.

I guess these people forgot all about casting the first stone, and all that. Or being judged as they judge. Or being forgiven their trespasses as they forgive others theirs. Or doing unto others.

Catholicism was never this dumbed down, fundie, nosy “I am my brother’s keeper” crap. St. Francis’ gentle reminder that actions speak louder than words really is the better way. It not only tends to be more charitable, more genuine and more effective, it’s also less likely to make you look like a hypocritical fool.